MISSIE NOEL’S TAMMANY SCENE: A DAY OUT FOR HEALTH, PETS ä PAGE 2G
THE ST.TAMMANY
ADVOCATE
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THURSDAY MARCH 12, 2015 H
COVINGTON • FOLSOM • LACOMBE • MADISONVILLE • MANDEVILLE • SLIDELL THENEWORLEANSADVOCATE.COM
Sharon Edwards TAMMANY TIMES SEDWARDS@THEADVOCATE.COM
Earth Fest is Sunday in Abita
Earth Day may be a month away, but Earth Fest is Sunday and it’s a perfect time to celebrate the environment and all we have to enjoy and protect in St. Tammany. And what better place to do so than in an area long known for the healing properties of its water and environment, Abita Springs. The seventh annual Earth Fest will be from noon to 5 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day at the Abita Springs Tourist Park, 22049 Main St. The green-themed festival is free and will feature music, food and activities, including crafts, games for children and trees. There will be a farmers market with locally produced foods and handmade goods. Green vendors are given first priority for booths, and all merchandise sold must be handmade or grown. Music, food, and activities will be provided by Friends of the Park. Entertainment includes, at noon, the Abita Middle Fiddle Club; 12:30 p.m., Northshore Irish Dance Academy; 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m., Beale St. Band; 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Big Easy Playboys; and 3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m., Fontainebleau High Jazz Band. Friends of the Park will help visitors “take home some green” by giving free sapling trees and shrubs to those who pre-register for Earth Fest site on Eventbrite or sign up for membership. Membership is $30 a year for Friends of the Park, a group that describes itself as “green-minded individuals who care about the preservation of our greenspaces and the upkeep of our lovely park.” There also will be hourly giveaways between the live music. Saplings will include native trees such as sassafras, sweet pecan, mayhaw and river birch; and shrubs such as shoebutton, wahoo, possomhaw and sweetshrub. Abita Springs Friends of the Park is a nonprofit organization founded in 2007. Its purpose is to identify, fund and implement greenspace improvements in the town of Abita Springs and providing healthful activities and cultural programs that enrich the lives of the community. The Friends are working to complete a handicap access path and have raised more than $30,000 of the $50,000 needed to increase accessibility at the park. Friends of the Park also needs volunteers at the games, demonstrations, food, drinks and welcome stations. Volunteer shifts are available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 3 to 6 p.m. Service hours also are available. For information, call volunteer coordinator Rachel Lambert at (985) 373-7922 or bigmamalambert@bellsouth.net or visit www.abitapark.com. “You can also stop by the FOP booth that day and we will ‘plug you in,’ ” Lambert said. For St. Patrick’s Day activities in St. Tammany, see page 4. Sharon Edwards is community news editor for The New Orleans Advocate.
Pastor finds loving connection to transplant donor BY KAREN BAKER
cal journey of Lungay, a native of the Philippines. Since 2005, Special to The Advocate Lungay has had thyroid cancer, A pastor at a Bayou Liberty diabetes and kidney failure. Ever optimistic and hopeful, church has overcome disasters and disease to celebrate the he helped his parish rebuild 30th anniversary of his ordina- after Hurricane Katrina and then spent the past three years tion Sunday. Asked how he has achieved searching for a life-saving kidthese milestones, the Rev. Roel ney. He found matches in peoLungay Lungay, pastor of St. ple from New York to family Genevieve Catholic Church, members in the Philippines, but there was always something said, “God has his own plans.” That about sums up the medi- that got in the way.
The Rev. Jose Roel Lungay, pastor of St. Genevieve Catholic Church in Slidell, will celebrate the 30th anniversary of his ordination as a priest on March 15.
In the midst of that frustrating search, he endured a typhoon and an earthquake in the Philippines in 2013, coordinating help for the devastated areas even while he went without his much-needed dialysis and postponed his search for a kidney. It was a difficult time, he says. But now God’s plan is clear. Photo provided by KAREN BAKER
äSee DONOR, page 2G
Advocate staff photos by SCOTT THRELKELD
Pearl the rescue pig roots around in a flower dish at the Bayou Ridge Animal Sanctuary and Preserve in Madisonville.
RESPITE FOR B RESCUES
BY ANDREW CANULETTE Special to The Advocate
Animal shelter, and its denizens, defy expectations with flair
Booth Pohlmann says he always wanted to help animals, even as a boy.
ooth Pohlmann has had several successful careers: one as a creative makeup artist for high-caliber clients around the world and another as a mentor for at-risk youth in New Orleans. While he was well-established in both fields and enjoyed them greatly, it may be his third career that will bring him the most pleasure. Pohlmann now owns and operates the Bayou Ridge Animal Sanctuary and Preserve, a 12-acre spread near Goodbee and the St. Tammany/Tangipahoa parish line. The nonprofit effort is the result of a lifelong desire to rescue abused and disregarded animals of all types. “When I was growing up, I wanted to do two things, and that was pay my mom’s electricity bill and take care of animals,” he said. Pohlmann tends to at least a dozen ani-
Art brings focus to photographer’s cancer journey IN PROFILE DEBORAH BURST
Standing at the end of Lake Road in Lacombe, Luana Kathleen “Kathy” Perez braved the chilly winds to photograph pelicans perched on the pilings. Her images of bluebirds, pelicans and landscapes depict nature’s glory and have become her salvation. A self-taught photographer, it all began nearly 10 years ago when she Photo by DEBORAH BURST spied a bluebird on a sunflower in her The camera brought new meaning to backyard. There was an instant conKathy Perez, a self-taught photographer, äSee PHOTOGRAPHER, page 3G during her battle with cancer.
mals at the preserve, including parrots, cats, dogs, pot-bellied pigs and a pair of goats. The focus of the sanctuary is on nontraditional pets that “no one wants to love or care for anymore.” The job requires at least four hours of work each day, he said. But the Bayou Ridge Sanctuary and Preserve is far from the average animal shelter. That’s because Pohlmann, 52, brings his professional creativity to the project. Imagine a barn draped in fabric left over from a wedding he planned. Inside the barn, two large pot-belled pigs roam freely underneath a chandelier with giant Christmas tree bulbs. One of the pigs sleeps on an upholstered chair in an adjacent room decorated with old luggage, books and more. Just outside, the goats walk within a fenced area that features wooden structures resembling Alpine huts. Inside Pohlmann’s home on the properäSee RESPITE, page 6G
Fontainebleau State Park to be site of Heart Walk
The American Heart Association will hold its annual Heart Walk on March 21 at Fontainebleau State Park near Mandeville. The Heart Walk is the AHA’s premier fundraiser each year, and the REC & event at Fontainebleau LEISURE always is well-attended; ANDREW CANULETTE 3,000 people are expected this year. As has been the case in recent years, Lakeview Regional Medical
Center is the signature sponsor of the walk, and plans to have 20 teams participating. LRMC CEO Bret Kolman is chairman of the 2015 event locally. The public is invited to join an LRMC team, to form a team of their own or to walk solo in support of the cause. All will walk on a 5-kilo-
äSee HEART WALK, page 3G